Multilevel model of a pulsed chemical H2 – F2 laser and its promising operational modes

A pulsed H₂–F₂ laser has been investigated theoretically with the use of the authors' own multilevel laser model developed earlier. This model allows for the rotational nonequilibrium and anharmonicity of the HF molecules. The characteristics of a hydrogen fluoride laser have been calculated numerically for the conditions realised in various experiments. A comparison of the calculated and experimental laser parameters demonstrates that the proposed multilevel model describes well the operation of an H₂–F₂ laser. A numerical study is reported of promising, from the point of view of good energy and time characteristics, operational modes of a pulsed hydrogen fluoride laser at high (~5 bar) pressures in a mixture initiated by an electron beam and when the initiation is by flash photolysis of the active medium from an initial temperature of 100 K.